As our minds to-day are called to this subject, and as none of the selections I had read were just suited to the occasion, I thought it best to jot down a few thoughts for meditation. Truly, no subject is more important to woman than the one under consideration. In us lies the destiny of future generations.
I think, perhaps, some may say, “Not in us alone.” But wait, dear sister; ours is a mighty realm. We have more power than we use. Let us lay aside our ambition to rise to renown, and simply carry out the design of our Creator; and should time last sufficiently long, more would be accomplished by our home influence than we could accomplish by arbitrary force.
There are women who have no home duties to perform. I can find no objection to their public work; for I believe they are called of God to just such places. But a mother’s mission is in her home. It is there her influence is felt and disbursed for the benefit of humanity.
I would not deny her the privilege of mingling with those around her. Nay, that is one of her duties. She must ever be on the alert to secure knowledge from any legitimate source. This may be found in a social call, a lecture, an entertainment, a visit to places of interest, a call on the poor and needy, or in a ramble among the scenes of nature. The source of knowledge is vast. It remains for us to find it under the guiding hand of Him who hath given us our families to instruct.
When I have stopped to ponder over these things, my responsibility seems greater than I can bear; and indeed it is, were it not for the divine help promised me. When I read, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him,” I feel able to perform my mission, knowing that my strength lies in One fully competent.
A thought comes to me now that seems important: “Giveth . . . liberally, and upbraideth not.” Do we do this by our children? I have heard mothers say, when their children came to them with questions, “O, go away! I’ve no time to bother with you now.” O mothers! their little minds are asking wisdom. Is there anything more important? If we can give the information, let us do so; for they may never ask us again, or, what is still worse, they may go to some one else, thus depriving us of our privilege. But if we are unable to satisfy their inquiring minds, then our duty is plain. It is a great embarrassment to be obliged to confess our ignorance before our children. We must ever be learning, ever be striving to fill our minds with wisdom, simplified, suitable for young minds to grasp.
Then, we have a duty to perform to our husbands. Do not think that they are under greater obligation to please us than we are to please them. True, the husband is the head of the household; but woman should be its heart.
It is our privilege to make home so attractive and ourselves so pleasing that our husbands, when they come from labor, may find a “haven of rest.”
“Home’s not merely four square walls,
Though with pictures hung and
gilded;
Home is where affection calls,
Filled with shrines the heart hath
build’d.”
Do not think I would exonerate the husband from all blame. No, indeed! But to-day we are studying womanhood in the home. My dear sisters, this subject is unexhaustible. Already I have taken too much of your time. I will close by giving a few lines from the pen of A. A. Willets, D. D.:—
“The light of a happy home is not only brightest radiance that cheers the darkness of man’s earthly condition, but it is the guiding star of his good destiny; and that sweet spirit who presides at the altar of home, making it a holy and happy spot, is the richest earthly prize man can find and win.
“The modesty of woman’s nature and the unobtrusiveness of her home sphere cause us too often to overlook the almost omnipotent power of her influence, in this hallowed relationship, over the character and destiny of mankind; yet in this quiet and retired realm, where she sways the scepter of her gentleness and love, human characters are formed, human generations molded, and the destiny of the whole world affected.
“To her tender care God commits the generations of mankind in infancy, when their natures are pliable and most susceptible to permanent impressions, and to her gentle hand is intrusted the mighty task of molding their characters and shaping their destiny.
“God seems, by the order of his providence, to say, ‘I cannot commit so delicate and important a task to man. He must be out upon the rough sea of life, struggling for sustenance. He is too much absorbed by that work, and becomes too rough and too impatient by his very exposure, for so gentle an office. Woman shall be fitted for it. And so infinite wisdom and infinite love pillowed the head of infancy upon woman’s breast, where it may feel and hear a heart full of tenderness, patience, and inexhaustible love. And thus the mother, by the gentleness of her nature and the sacredness of her office, holds the key of man’s soul, and by her nameless and numberless ministries of love shapes his character.’”
Can we, my dear friends, conceive of anything higher or more noble in this life?